First ever race at Putnumville

racerjim2 · 3/17/11, 12:52 PM

Watching the video posted of the Marvel cars at Putnumville just got me thinking.

Anyone on here who went to the 1st ever Putnumville race back in the late 60's (probably 1969)?

The new track was opening and I stopped by there on my way to Colorado on that Friday night. It was the worst race track I'd ever seen in my life and I've never seen one as bad since. It was a "cornfield" and that's for real. Looks like the years have been good to the place. That night it was a big car count. Most of the Indiana and Illinois hotshoes were there. The track had more ridges and bumps than a motocross track. Rain came just as qualifying was going on that night. But, it did leave a memory with me.

Speedwrench · 3/17/11, 3:57 PM

I was at that attempt at a first race at Putnamville - don't honstly remember if it was 68 or 69.

They did have a bunch of cars there including several of the area's big names.

There was no back entrance at that time and we had to drive up the hill behind turn one and between the grandstand and the cemetery to get out of the place. Thought I was never going to make it up the hill with all that mud.

Longhaul Racer · 3/17/11, 4:29 PM

I was there several times that first year with my father Johnny Johnson and as I recall the pits were in a grove of trees along the back stretch and of course we nearly all had small open trailers easy to pull in between the trees. Pushing the cars by hand was always a challenge.
Randy Johnson

3/17/11, 12:52 PM	#1 First ever race at Putnumville
racerjim2 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 488	Watching the video posted of the Marvel cars at Putnumville just got me thinking. Anyone on here who went to the 1st ever Putnumville race back in the late 60's (probably 1969)? The new track was opening and I stopped by there on my way to Colorado on that Friday night. It was the worst race track I'd ever seen in my life and I've never seen one as bad since. It was a "cornfield" and that's for real. Looks like the years have been good to the place. That night it was a big car count. Most of the Indiana and Illinois hotshoes were there. The track had more ridges and bumps than a motocross track. Rain came just as qualifying was going on that night. But, it did leave a memory with me.

3/17/11, 3:57 PM	#2 Re: First ever race at Putnumville
Speedwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,047	I was at that attempt at a first race at Putnamville - don't honstly remember if it was 68 or 69. They did have a bunch of cars there including several of the area's big names. There was no back entrance at that time and we had to drive up the hill behind turn one and between the grandstand and the cemetery to get out of the place. Thought I was never going to make it up the hill with all that mud.

3/17/11, 4:29 PM	#3 Re: First ever race at Putnumville
Longhaul Racer Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 44	I was there several times that first year with my father Johnny Johnson and as I recall the pits were in a grove of trees along the back stretch and of course we nearly all had small open trailers easy to pull in between the trees. Pushing the cars by hand was always a challenge. Randy Johnson